Central regions | Finance, business | Technology & innovation

‘Quantum physics’ VC fund announced in Russia

11 Dec '12

Russia now has a new venture fund, Quantum Wave (Qwave), to focus on investments in new materials and devices based on quantum physics, portal BFM.ru reports. The founders of the new VC fund are Sergei Belousov, senior partner at Runa Capital, a well-known VC fund, and a co-owner of such hi-tech companies as Parallels, Acronis, Rolsen and Acumatica; and his venture partner Ilya Zubarev, an entrepreneur.

Qwave will focus on a range of fast-growing areas, such as quantum cryptography, new materials, and supersensitive detectors. The Fund is expected to invest anything between $2m and $10m per company into businesses of various stages of development across the world, which have already developed products and a client base.

At the moment, the Qwave co-founders are reported to have already raised $30m; the Fund will soon be beefed up to $100m, the co-founders hope.

Quantum Wave Fund is said to have received support from an array of the world’s leading quantum centers at Harvard, MIT and other universities.

“Currently, high-level quantum physics based technologies are research areas for just about 600 people in the world, and about 250 of those are ethnic Russians and ex-nationals of the former Soviet Union,” Maria Drokova, a spokesperson for the Fund, told BFM.ru.

According to her, the Qwave idea began from the experience that Mr. Belousov and his partners had got when establishing the Russian Quantum Center.

Qwave will not only be investing in scientific teams but also help the developers set up production, create marketing strategies, and launch sales in the global market.

Qwave is expected to announce its first investments “in the next two weeks.”